


Packing

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Community: comment_fic, F/M, Fluff, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 16:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18673618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Nick and Ellie pack for a week in Oklahoma.





	Packing

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt Any, Any/Any, "Spending time with you is great. Spending time with your family? Not so much."  
> https://comment-fic.livejournal.com/1003789.html?thread=111086861#t111086861

“Have you almost finished?” 

Nick looked up from sorting through a pile of t-shirts and shrugged his shoulders. “Almost.” 

He wasn’t really surprised when Ellie appeared at his side, leaning over his shoulder so that she could look into the suitcase. He turned his head to look at her just in time to see her forehead scrunching up in a frown. “Your case is almost empty.” He shrugged again, not really seeing the need to comment on what was so obviously true, and the frown got scrunchier. “You do realise we fly to Oklahoma tomorrow. For a week.” 

He snickered. “The countdown on your calendar was a pretty good clue.” 

Ellie didn’t laugh. “And you have hardly anything packed.” She took a step away so that she could see him properly, crossed her arms over her chest. He dimly registered it as her “ready for action” pose from work but turned his gaze back to the pile of t-shirts and selecting which ones he wanted. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s almost like you don’t want to go.” 

The words hit where the pose hadn’t. 

For a second, Nick was tempted to deny everything, laugh it off and move on. Then he took a beat, actually ran Ellie’s words and, more particularly, the way she’d said them, around his head. Then he looked up at her, saw her eyes slightly narrowed in his direction, her lips pressed into a thin line. 

That could only mean one thing. 

He was well and truly busted. 

Sighing, he dropped the shirt he’d been about to pack onto the bed, held his hands up. “Okay, all right, I admit it. When we talked about going away for a week, I was picturing hot sunshine, you on the beach in a bikini, sipping drinks with little umbrellas... spending time with you is great. Spending time with your family, not so much.” 

Ellie tilted her head, her lower lip sticking out in a pout. “I thought you got on well with the boys...”

“I do, I do. And your mom and dad, I think they’re great.” He crossed the room to stand in front of her then, rested his hands on her hips. “I’m just not used to a big, close family... it’s different, that’s all.” He leaned forward, brushed his lips across her forehead. “I promise, once we’re there, I’ll be fully engaged with the whole Bishop-ness of it all.” 

She was still frowning as she laid her hands on his chest. Her fingers plucked idly at the pale material of his t-shirt. “I just don’t get why you’d agree to come back to Oklahoma with me if you didn’t really want to.”

Nick tilted his head and he was pretty sure he was looking at her like she was out of her mind. “Ellie, they’re your family,” he told her. “You love them. And I love you. So I’m going to Oklahoma.” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal.” 

She looked down then, cleared her throat before she spoke. “When I was married to Jake... we went away with his family. A lot. Never with mine. He used to say they were a lot.” 

Nick couldn’t help himself; at the mention of Jake, he felt every single one of his hackles rise. “Well, Jake said and did a lot of things I never would.” Like cheat on her, for instance. Not that he said that out loud but he thought it was pretty well implied. It made her huff a mirthless little chuckle anyway. “Look, baby, I’m selfish, I can cop to that. I want you all to myself, and that’s me, okay? That’s the way I am. But...” He dragged the word out, moving his hands so that he could lace his fingers together at the small of her back. “Oklahoma and your family matter to you. So they matter to me. I don’t ever want you to have to choose between us.” 

He lifted one hand, used it to lift her chin up so that he could press his lips against hers. A brief kiss, but a promise of more. He was going to have to get used to brief kisses anyway, or none at all, if he was going to be spending a week with her father and three brothers. “We’ll have a great time,” he assured her. “Just promise me you won’t leave me alone for too long.” 

He was trying to make her laugh. He succeeded. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of my brothers.” 

“Not at all.” He paused for effect. “Your mom on the other hand...” She full on belly laughed at that. “Oh you may laugh but you forget, I’m fully aware of what a Bishop woman intent on getting information out of me looks like... two of you? Together?” He shivered exaggeratedly. 

“Don’t worry,” Ellie told him, lips curling in a smile as she stood on tiptoe, bringing her lips to his. “I’ll protect you.” 

His chuckle was swallowed by her kiss and then they proceeded to forget about Oklahoma - and packing - for quite a while. 

All in all, Nick thought he’d got the better end of the deal.


End file.
